


Harbingers

by KaylaNorail



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Loki tries his best, Mentions of PTSD, Norse Bro Feels, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Tony Stark is having a bad day, everyone is having a bad day, is anyone surprised, the results are debatable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-04-23 09:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14329716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaylaNorail/pseuds/KaylaNorail
Summary: Things Tony Stark wanted that evening: a movie to watch, junk food, and beer.Things he got instead: two unexpected guests from outer space and some very, very bad news.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeey, look at me starting another multichapter fic even though I'm having trouble managing just one, yaaaay!
> 
> "Did you at least finish it before posting, as you said you'd do?" Eeehhhh... no. The truth is, I wanted to finish it before the Infinity War release, but soon it became obvious that's unlikely. Still, I wanted to at least kick it off before the movie, so yeah, this is how we got here. At least this time I have everything more or less planned and some stuff already written in advance. Also, it's not gonna be long.
> 
> ANYWAY. Some time ago I had this thought that there are lots of fics in which Thor shows up at Stark Tower or some other Avengery place with an injured/sick/otherwise-in-a-bad-shape Loki and asks for help, but as far as I know, there are none where it's the other way around.
> 
> And, well, sloppy writing happened.
> 
> (Yup, already tagging it as "Canon Divergence" rather than speculation or something, because I'm 100% sure nothing even remotely like this will happen.)

Tony Stark was not an indecisive man, quite the opposite. While not exactly the most impulsive man on the planet, time and again he had proved he could make a decision, even a difficult one, on the spot, in a matter of mere seconds. But this conundrum… This required careful deliberation, and, frankly, he would give a lot just to be able not to make that choice at all.

“You can always flip a coin,” Rhodey suggested from his spot on the couch, an almost empty bottle in his hand. “We risk running out of beer before we even start. And the pizza’s getting cold.”

Sitting on Rhodey’s left, Tony groaned, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t want to. I told you I’m not a series person. I’m a movie person. Series require commitment and I’m not—”

“Oi!” Rhodey wagged his finger. “What would Pepper say to that, I wonder?”

Tony glared at him. “Low blow, buddy, low blow. Why can’t we just watch a movie instead?”

“Because we watched movies last time, and before that, and before that… Almost everything we do nowadays when I manage to drag you away from work is _watch movies._ ”

“Uh, we played Monopoly once.”

“Yeah. Worst five hours of my life. And Happy’s still mad at you. Anyway, it’s my turn to decide.”

“I let you choose the movies! Some of them.”

“And now I’m letting you choose the series. So… _Twin Peaks,_ _Breaking Bad_ or _Downton Abbey?_ ”

“You know, I’ve known you for years and I had no idea you’re such a TV series buff. I never knew you actually had _time_ for this.”

“It’s a pretty recent development. I’ve got lots of time nowadays when I’m not working with these.” Rhodey lightly patted the exoskeleton encasing his legs. Hundreds of adjustments, four surgeries, and hours of therapy after his accident, he was making some progress and finally could ditch the crutches, at least when he was wearing the exoskeleton. But anything faster than a trot was still a challenge, and while Rhodey kept hinting at trying to get back into his War Machine suit, Tony didn’t even want to hear about it. Not yet. “Gotta fill it with something.”

Tony bit his lip, feeling a bit uneasy. He cleared his throat. “You know what? It’s your call.” He bent forward and took a slice of the pizza from the table. “Whatever it is, I’ll start complaining why the plot wasn’t resolved yet by episode four or so, so it makes no difference. Take your pick, I’ll just be sitting here and enjoying the food, if nothing else.”

Rhodey sighed. “You are insufferable.”

“I think it’s the millionth time you said that. On with the show, let’s be done with it.”

“Fine.” Rhodey picked up the remote. “ _Breaking Bad_ it is. It’s a pity Vision’s not here, maybe he’d lighten up the atmosphere a little, since you’re such a grumpy cat today… How’s Vision, by the way?

“Fine, I guess?” Tony chewed on his pizza. “He called yesterday, talked about visiting some museum of old stuff. Europe seems to be doing him good. Oh, by the way—here’s a new selfie, look.”

He took his phone out of his pocket and showed Rhodey a photo of Vision standing in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. With a wide smile on his face, he certainly looked better now than before, no longer the silent, grim recluse he’d been in the weeks following the whole Sokovia Accords mess. And while Tony was glad for him, he missed him sometimes, even though it had been him who gave Vision a credit card when the latter shared with him the idea of travelling to Europe, on his own, and staying for some time—to go sightseeing and see other aspects of humanity’s culture up close, per his own words. Tony had a feeling there was more to that, but all he asked for in return was that Vision send him some photos and get him a little souvenir maybe. Vision did both, sharing photos of him smiling in front of landmarks, and sending Tony the souvenir in the mail.

“Yeah, well…” Tony sighed, his eyes drifting to a tiny model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa standing on the nearby shelf; Vision took the ‘little’ part a bit too literally. “I’d rather be on the other side of the planet than here as well.”

“Stop whining, and enjoy the show.” Rhodey paused with the remote in hand, about to press play. “Let’s make a deal: if you’re not hooked by the end of the first episode, I’m paying for the pizza next time.”

“Alright. And if by some miracle I’m hooked—”

Before Tony could come up with something trivial enough, a sudden, bright flash of blue light outside caught his attention.

By the time he turned towards the window it was gone, the lawn swathed in the evening’s soft darkness except for the paths illuminated by the lanterns—and a much smaller light, blue like the flash, seemingly no bigger than a spark.

Tony rose from the couch and as he walked closer, he could swear he saw _something_ else in the grass near the landing pad, some dark shape only barely touched by the lights, that most certainly hadn’t been there before. It was hard to tell, but it looked roughly human-sized, maybe a little bigger.

And then the sound of the alarm blared through the facility. Tony winced at it; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t possibly make an alarm sound that would _not_ sound utterly irritating.

“Security breach,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice announced over the noise, almost inappropriately calm in contrast. “At least one intruder detected on the premises. Hostility level: unknown. Please initiate the Party Crasher Protocol.”

“Talk about a fitting name, really.” Tony rushed to the door, as F.R.I.D.A.Y. continued speaking, instructing the security to investigate the threat and all the other personnel to remain inside. “Rhodey, stay here.”

“Don’t exactly have to tell me that,” Rhodey grumbled and even though he was probably joking, Tony once again wanted to slap himself for making his awkward. But he couldn’t worry about that just now; there was probably a much more troublesome matter to be taken care of outside.

He ran down the stairs, heading for the nearest exit, stopping only to open one of the many locked cabinets scattered all over the facility.

Other people had emergency fire extinguishers. Tony Stark had emergency suit gauntlets. And fire extinguishers as well, but right now it wasn’t the thing he needed.

He punched in the code opening the cabinet and put on the metal gauntlet, fitting perfectly over his hand and forearm, its self-contained system humming as it powered up. Tony also picked up a pair of HUD glasses—not as good as his helmet and certainly less protective than that, but still helpful, and certainly better than nothing. It was a bit of a pity that the Bleeding Edge was down in the lab, but there probably wasn’t time to make a detour. This would have to be enough, he had designed it specifically for situations like this. He dared to hope it would be even too much for whatever was outside.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., private mode,” Tony said, switching on the earpiece and resuming his sprint to the exit. He pushed a tiny button on the glasses’ frame and the HUD flickered to life on the lenses. “How did they get in here, what was that light and so on?”

“It’s unclear, boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. “The security footage shows absolutely nothing there before the flash occurred. I’m still analyzing the readings. We may be dealing with some form of instantaneous transportation of matter across long distances here.”

“Teleportation? Really now?” Tony groaned. The place was well-guarded, both by people and by various technical wonders, mostly built by him, and was supposed to be impenetrable—but Tony had never actually thought about the possibility of someone _teleporting_ here. Which, taking into account all the weird things he’d seen so far… he definitely should have. Now he felt like an utter idiot.

By the time he reached the scene, what looked like all of his security personnel currently on site—about a dozen of people—had already formed a circle around the intruder. Or, as Tony realized as he got closer, the _intruders._ Two of them, to be exact. Tony joined the circle of the men and women pointing their weapons and at the unexpected guests, raised his gauntleted hand, readying the repulsor to fire if need be—and froze where he stood as he recognized one of the intruders.

The nightmare from several years ago, the man who had torn the sky above New York open and unleashed an army of monsters upon the city, someone who was supposed to be a thing of the past—a _dead_ thing of the past—and yet here he was, in the present, looking very much alive.

Standing right in front of him, just next to Tony’s own landing pad, on Tony’s own lawn, basically on Tony’s own doorstep, was Loki of Asgard—and he wasn’t alone.

Tony forced himself take his eyes off Loki and look at his companion. The other man, whose arm was draped around Loki’s shoulder and whose head was hanging low, hiding his face from view, seemed unconscious, and was overall a sorry sight. He looked as if he’d been chewed on and spat out. His tattered cape hung from his one shoulder; he was bruised and bloodied, but what particularly got Tony’s attention was a tear in his armor, revealing a deep gash in his side.

Tony’s eyes shifted back to Loki and he had to admit that the cosmic nuisance didn’t look that much better. He didn’t appear to be as severely injured as the other man, but his clothes were torn in places and he’s got his own share of cuts and bruises marring his face.

_What happened to them_ was Tony’s first thought once the initial shock wore off. _Why the hell is he alive_ was the second. _This is a trick and he wants to kill us all_ was the third.

“Stark,” Loki spoke, his voice raspy and full of urgency, “we need your help.”

“You need my—” He paused, surprised. Maybe he shouldn’t be, as Loki and his unfortunate companion _very clearly_ looked like they needed help. But for Tony, that didn’t make the situation any less weird, quite the opposite. “ _You_ need _my_ help? Are you sure? Because last time I checked, we weren’t exactly buddies.”

“It’s not about me, it’s about my brother. You are still _his_ friend, right?”

At this mention, Tony was about to ask where Thor was and if he needed help why hadn’t he come in person and instead sent his no-good, officially dead sibling—but then his gaze once again fell on Loki’s companion and Tony felt the blood in his veins run cold.

“You—you’ve got to be kidding me,” he choked out, shaking his head.

The cape should have given him a hint. Maybe that armor as well—it was different than before, but when Tony thought of it, there was something familiar about its design. But the once flowing golden hair was cut down now, the trusty hammer was nowhere to be seen, and the otherworldly royal splendor, the innate power that always had an almost radiating quality to it, was gone. Now all that was left was a broken, limp body.

_No way. Just… no way._

Carefully, like he was walking into a minefield, Tony stepped forwards. Loki didn’t move, standing where he was and keeping his eyes on Tony, looking at him in an almost pleading manner.

Reaching out with his unarmed hand, Tony carefully cupped the unconscious man’s face and lifted it a little so he could see it. He sucked in a breath and almost drew back as his horrible suspicions were confirmed.

That was Thor. That was very obviously Thor, Tony would recognize that face anytime and anywhere, even with all that mottled red and purple on his skin, even with that metal eye patch covering what Tony feared was an empty socket.

Tony shuddered. He’d never seen Thor like that. He’d never expected to see him like that. That was a guy who could easily kick holes in brick walls, challenge the Hulk to an arm-wrestling contest, and take a solid punch to the face like it was nothing. That was someone who should _not_ look like that.

“What happened?” Tony asked in an almost fearful whisper. Then he looked at Loki and, anger bubbling up in his chest, growled, “What have you done to him?!”

“It… wasn’t me.” Loki sounded strangely unsure.

“Yeah, that’s totally believable, it’s not like you have a history of villainy and betrayal.”

“You want explanation?” Loki snapped at him. “You shall get it. But take care of him first.” He hesitated and then, with visible difficulty, added, “ _Please._ ”

Taken aback, Tony eyed him more carefully. He hadn’t known Loki for long, but he’d seen quite a few of his faces. He’d seen him angry, confident, confused, he’d even seen him defeated and resigned—but it was the first time he saw Loki being _desperate_. That couldn’t be anything else gleaming in Loki’s wide eyes and making his hand clench a bit too tightly on Thor’s forearm.

The cautious part of Tony reminded him that it could all just be a part of some malicious scheme on Loki’s part. But as he took another quick glance at Thor, he cast the suspicions aside. Scheme or not, Thor’s injuries seemed way too real and Tony preferred to err on the side of not letting him bleed to death on his lawn.

“Dammit,” he muttered and then turned to the security guards. “Someone take Thor to the infirmary. Yeah, yeah, it’s really Thor, now get over it and hurry up,” he added, seeing the bewilderment on some of the guards’ faces. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., if by some miracle Doctor Cho’s not awake yet, make her so. Tell her Thor needs her help and she’ll be in the infirmary yesterday.”

“Roger that, boss.”

“I am going with him,” Loki said as two of the guards approached them.

“Nope, you’re not.” Tony took a step back raised his armed hand again. “I’m helping Thor, fine, but on my own terms, and they don’t include you just waltzing into my place as a guest. So play nice and just hand him over.”

Loki looked around, glaring daggers at pretty much every single person in sight, but apart from that, he didn’t move, and when the guards carefully took Thor from him, he didn’t protest. Tony, however, was still targeting him, and so was everyone still holding a weapon.

“Now then, you—” Tony began, but Loki interrupted him, raising his hands.

“I surrender.”

For a moment, Tony forgot how to use his tongue. “You—say what?”

“I surrender. I’m outnumbered and, to be honest, definitely not at my best, so let us spare ourselves the trouble.”

Tony gritted his teeth as a nasty feeling of déjà vu hit him. That was a scheme, that was yet another dastardly scheme, a trap waiting to be sprung at the right moment, just like in Stuttgart—and the moment they took Loki into custody, they would fall for it. And Tony wasn’t dumb enough to fall for the same trick twice.

But then, what else exactly could they do? They couldn’t just let Loki go. If he was dangerous when captured, he was much more so when roaming free. It crossed Tony’s mind that they could just kill him here and now—he was a threat, he had tried to enslave them all and murdered innocent people. If anyone deserved to be killed on sight, that would be him. And he was supposed to be dead anyway.

Still, the idea of killing someone who had just surrendered and displayed no overt hostility—no matter how deceiving that appearance might be—just didn’t sit well enough with Tony. And, whether Tony liked it or not, Loki was the only person who knew what had happened to Thor. And also the least person they should expect an honest and accurate testimony from.

Tony suppressed a groan. He regarded Loki warily, wishing for a fourth, perfectly safe option to come to his mind. Rather predictably, it did not. He only managed to observe that Loki was slightly calmer now, but even without supporting Thor’s weight, he was still not quite standing upright, his raised hands shook a little, and his right palm seemed burned, as if he’d been holding a hot coal. But like everything else, that could also be a part of a deception.

Tony could not see a decision that would not lead to some kind of disaster. Everything he could do now was to minimize the damage as much as possible—and he assumed they had a better chance at succeeding at that once they had Loki locked up.

But before he could give the order, Loki’s face suddenly contorted in pain and he bent double, gasping for air and clutching his chest. Startled, Tony backed away.

_Oh great, now what?!_

“Uh—Loki, is everything okay?” Tony asked, although it was rather obvious what the answer was. He briefly wondered if Loki was having a heart attack or something, or if they should expect some nasty alien critter to jump out of his chest, but then he noticed that Loki’s hands started to glow blue.

Tony hissed, the repulsor buzzing with energy, ready to shoot, but he still hesitated. Loki was not attacking. If anything, he looked as distressed by the situation as Tony was, if not more. He groaned, clearly struggling to stay on his feet. His hands were no longer glowing—instead, it was now a shining blue cube he was holding.

Tony broke out in cold sweat. Teleportation. Loki. The cube _._ The _cube. The Tesseract._

The past flashed before his eyes, unbidden: the portal in the sky, the suffocating vacuum of space, the murderous aliens swarming Manhattan.

He wasn’t going to let that happen again. No more lives would be lost because of that blasted cube, _not a single one more,_ not on his watch.

Loki raised his eyes, wide open and uncertain. He was still breathing shakily.

“Stark—”

A repulsor beam hit him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. The Tesseract fell out of his hands and onto the lawn.

“Nobody touch that shiny thing!” Tony barked, approaching the Tesseract, his gaze shifting back and forth between it and Loki, still sprawled in the grass at the guards’ feet and apparently in not too much of a hurry to get up. “I’ll handle it. Take him somewhere secure.” He indicated Loki with a jerk of his head. “Restrain him, search him and keep an eye on him. Don’t leave him alone even for a second. And—” Tony hesitated. “Don’t call anyone. Not yet.”

While the guards hauled the slightly dazed Loki away—the lack of resistance on his part being more disconcerting than anything—Tony crouched by the Tesseract, hands hovering over the cube. Just grabbing it with his bare hand probably wasn’t a smart idea. Doing it with the armored one… Maybe slightly better, assuming the contact wouldn’t short-circuit the mechanism, melt the gauntlet, or do some other unpredictable thing.

After a moment of deliberation, his metal-encased fingers closed around the Tesseract. When nothing happened, Tony carefully picked up the cube, holding it at arm’s length. Still nothing. Hopefully it would stay like this at least until he got it into the lab.

Tony turned around, heading back into the building. He realized he was trembling, and his heart was beating way too fast than it should. He tightened his grip on the Tesseract, wishing he could just crush that cosmic piece of junk with his own hands and get rid of it once and for all. If only it had stayed in whatever super-safe Asgardian Fort Knox it had been for all those years and he’d be happy never to see it again—but no, _of course_ it had to return, and in a most unwelcome company to boot.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” he said, “tell Rhodey our movie night is cancelled. I’ve got some work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pssst, I actually only watched one of the shows Rhodey mentions. You can guess which one.


	2. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was quick
> 
> But most importantly, thank you all wonderful people who responded in any way to this fic! ;w; I love you all and may all your faves survive Infinity War! *hugs*
> 
> In this chapter: people talking. That's it, that's the chapter.

Tony wondered why he kept examining the cube. It was painfully obvious what it was, he would recognize it anywhere and anytime. Perhaps some part of him still hoped against hope that it was a fake, some fancy nightlight made in China or something as insignificant as that, and yearned for a proof. Or perhaps his scientist-to-the-core self just felt compelled to examine every powerful alien artifact he could get his hands on.

Whatever was driving him, the results were clear. All the readings matched the data gathered several years ago. With his instincts Tony could argue. With science—not so much. If he still had any real doubts at this point, they were completely dispelled now.

The Tesseract was here, on his lab table, locked in a container of metal and glass—built with radioactive objects in mind, but apparently good enough for cosmic weapons of mass destruction as well—and Tony was utterly lost. He stared at the cube as if trying to divine the future from it. Or the past. Or the now. _Anything_ would be helpful, really.

He should probably contact Secretary Ross. Explain the situation to him—even though he had pretty much _no idea_ what was going on—let him and his people handle the Tesseract and ship Loki off to the Raft. However, Ross was probably the second least person Tony would like to hand the Tesseract over to.

Meanwhile, the absolutely least person Tony would hand the Tesseract over to had actually _brought it_ to him. Although it hadn’t exactly looked as planned. Although, knowing Loki, it might have been. Although—

Tony sighed. So many conflicting implications. So many gaps to fill. His head was starting to ache.

“Honestly, this is hella excuse to put our _Breaking Bad_ binge on hold,” Rhodey said, sitting on a bench nearby. Tony had barely entered the lab when Rhodey showed up with some tea, though he provided more company than actual assistance. Still, Tony found it comforting to have someone familiar and friendly around right now, and Rhodey’s presence certainly helped him not to lose what was left of his already frayed nerve.

“Trust me, I’d rather be miserable in front of the TV rather than be miserable in front of a deadly space trinket.” Tony tried to sound light-hearted, but his voice came out strained. He glanced at the holoscreen before him, displaying the collected data, not sure what he was looking for now. There wasn’t much more it could tell him at this point.

“You know, I have seen some pretty weird shit with my own eyes, but this… can’t quite wrap my head around this.”

“Around what exactly? There’s plenty to choose from.”

Rhodey rose from his seat and walked over to the table. “I’m not sure. _All_ of this, I guess. This thing being so powerful. Thor getting beaten. The psycho you guys fought in New York coming back and acting… surprisingly friendly. Well, friendlier than I imagined he would be.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure which one unnerves me the most.” He finally closed the screen and drank the rest of his already cold tea. “And speaking of the psycho… F.R.I.D.A.Y., what’s Loki doing?”

It occurred to him that maybe he should’ve asked earlier. The lab might’ve been surrounded by a squad of brainwashed security guards and he would be none the wiser until he stepped outside. The only thing that stopped him from panicking was that he hadn’t seen Loki come with another mind-control scepter this time.

“He appears to be taking a nap,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

“…A nap? Really?”

A brief pause before F.R.I.D.A.Y’s response made Tony think that if she had a physical body, she would probably shrug just now. “He seems exhausted.”

“Okay, whatever.” Tony put the empty tea mug back on the table, with a little too much force than he intended. “A napping, exhausted Loki is better than a lively, murdery Loki. Anything else? Did he say something before dozing off?”

“Not a word, boss.”

Tony frowned. “Wow. He must really be tired, then.” He started slowly circling the table, only so that he could give his body something to do; he was growing restless.

Of course, Loki could just be pretending to be tired. Just biding his time, waiting for the right moment to attack, or for his allies to arrive and break him out and take the Tesseract back, presumably killing everyone in the compound and—

Tony almost jumped out of his skin when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned, just in time to see Rhodey take his hand away and raise it in an apologetic gesture.

“Whoa, whoa, sorry, Tony.” Rhodey said. “Didn’t want to scare you.”

“Yeah—well—the feeling is mutual, I guess,” Tony mumbled, trying to compose himself. “I’m sorry, I’m just—dammit. I’m freaking out. I thought I was over it and now I’m—” He ran a hand through his hair, breathing deeply.

“Hey. Hey, look at me, Tony.”

Tony did and immediately regretted that. He didn’t like it when anyone looked at him with worry in their eyes. Especially when it was him they were worrying about.

“If you’re going to tell me to get a grip, I’ll punch you,” Tony grumbled.

“No, I’m not.” Rhodey once again, very carefully this time, laid his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “But I remember the way you were just after New York, and this—this isn’t it.” He gave Tony a light squeeze. “I know it’s all weird and all sorts of confusing, and of course it’s gonna upset you—”

“It already has. Also, understatement.”

“Anyway. You’re on edge, fine, you absolutely have the right to be. Hell, _I’m_ on edge, this is all way beyond me. But just… try not overthinking it? Because I bet you’re doing exactly that. And that’s not going to help. Let’s stick to what we know. Or what _you_ know, because I have no idea what this is.”

“Alright. Alright.” Tony started pacing again. “What we know is that we have an immense power source on this table. Said power source was brought here by a crazy alien warlord, who once had used it to try to take over the world.. Also, said warlord is now _napping_ somewhere in my house, while his much more friendly brother is—” Tony stopped in his tracks. “F.R.I.D.A.Y.?”

“Yes, boss?

“Can Doctor Cho talk now?”

There was a short pause and then Doctor Cho’s voice came over the speakers. “I’ve got a minute, Mister Stark. But please, be brief.” She sounded nervous and slightly short-winded. Not exactly a good sign.

“Right. How is Thor?” He asked.

Doctor Cho sighed. “Bad. Really bad. I won’t get into the details, but his injuries are extensive. I’m treating only the worst of it at the moment.”

Tony swallowed hard. “But will he—will he make it?”

“If he was human, I’d say his chances of survival, let alone recovery, were slim… but I’ve never treated an alien god before, so who knows. I stopped the bleeding and I think I have him more or less stabilized for now. However, there seems to be a lot of internal damage as well, but that will require further examination.”

Tony set his jaw; the news weren’t particularly relieving. But at least Thor was still alive and, hopefully, Doctor Cho would make sure he stayed that way. “Alright. Thanks. Keep up the good work. If anything happens, let us know.”

“Of course. I’m getting back to work.”

Tony’s gaze darted back to the Tesseract, sitting innocently in its container as if it wasn’t dangerous at all, then forced himself to look at Rhodey, standing across the table. It probably wasn’t smart to stare at the cube for too long, and not just because it could be detrimental to his eyesight.

“Okay. Back to what we know.” Tony tapped his fingers on the table. “I think I’ve already listed it all. We won’t get anywhere further on our own.”

“So, what do we do next?” Rhodey asked. “Run more tests? Alert the authorities?”

“No, we’ll get nothing else useful from that. I managed to confirm we’re dealing with the real thing, and that it seems dormant. No energy spikes, no interference, no nothing. So at least I think it’s not an _active_ threat. As for the authorities… no. You don’t want this thing in the hands of the authorities. Especially if it indeed acts as a beacon for someone.”

“You said it’s dormant.”

“Still can be traced. Immense power source and all that. You can’t really turn it off.”

“You’ll have to inform the authorities sooner or later, though.”

“Let’s make it later.”

“Then what else do you suggest? Maybe…” Rhodey lowered his voice a little. “Do you think it’s time to… you know… make the call?”

Tony bristled, his thoughts flashing back to the cell phone locked in the drawer in his office several stories above them. It _had_ crossed his mind—they had faced this threat together last time, after all. They had _beaten_ the threat. Putting the team back together seemed like a logical conclusion.

It wasn’t the first time he’d thought about doing It, either. Tony had found himself holding the phone on several occasions, with no real reason at all, except for a sudden longing for things to go back to what they had been. For having the Avengers restored, for being a part of something more than a group of three scarred and broken people. For old friends.

But Tony never actually called. For one thing, the Accords would make the whole reunion more than a bit awkward, if not impossible to happen—but even if that could somehow be taken care of, there were other problems, reaching deeper than that.

Since Siberia, it had been personal. And Steve might have apologized, and Tony, in his heart, might have accepted it, but… it was somehow easier not to hold a grudge when they didn’t see and talk to each other. It was also easier to not have to apologize out loud.

“I’d rather not,” Tony said after a moment of hesitation. “Maybe we can manage by ourselves. I’d really not drag them into this. Things could get… messy.”

Judging by his knitted eyebrows and uncertain gaze, Rhodey also seemed on the fence with that. “Right then. No authorities, no… renegade heroes, at least for now. Any other ideas?”

Tony winced. “One. And I really, _really_ hate it.”

 

* * *

 

“This isn’t really what I had in mind when I said ‘somewhere secure…’” Tony admitted.

“And what was it, if I may ask, sir?”

“I—you know what, I have no idea. But you get a point for making do.”

There were many various rooms in the Avengers Facility. Among other things, it had living quarters, several laboratories and storage rooms, an infirmary, a gym, a library, and even something that Tony dubbed a “party cave,” which was undergoing constant improvements and was yet to be used. What it didn’t have was a holding cell—because, frankly, no one had ever thought they would need that here.

As a result, Tony and Rhodey were now in the security room, standing at a table. Loki was seated in a chair on the other side, his head resting on the table, eyes closed—really napping, it would seem. His hands were idle in his lap, bound with reinforced handcuffs, and a collar had been fastened around his neck. Both devices were Tony’s own designs and he couldn’t help but feel his stomach turn at the sight of the latter. He still remembered how utterly miserable Wanda had looked with the thing on her in the Raft—which was just one of the reasons why the breakout that had followed didn’t bother him that much. He had crafted those items to be used on dangerous superhuman villains, not his friends.

Which meant they were a perfect fit for Loki in his opinion. But Tony was doubting their effectiveness. He hadn’t really tested them—asking his superpowered friends to be his test subjects felt beyond awkward. At the very least, Tony hoped the titanium-based alloy the handcuffs were made of would be enough to stop even Loki from breaking them, but then he remembered how Thor had bent his armor with his _bare hands._ And maybe Loki wasn’t as strong as his brother, but never before had titanium seemed so _flimsy_ as it did now.

There was also the whole magic thing, although Tony hated using the m-word, because magic was stupid and nonexistent. He had a feeling that any moment now Loki would pull off a Roger Rabbit and just slip free without much effort, collar or no collar. But for now, it didn’t seem so. Loki didn’t even flinch when Tony and Rhodey entered the room. His breaths were even but shallow, and now, in the proper lighting, Tony could see Loki’s injuries more clearly, clashing with the previously unnoticed pallor of his face. Somehow even after New York he hadn’t looked so pathetic.

Tony briefly wondered if he would have laughed at that if he hadn’t been in such a lousy mood, and if that would make him a terrible person. But he brushed it aside; that was not the right kind of speculation he should be concerned about right now.

“So…” he started awkwardly, looking at one of the three guards present in the room, standing around the table with their weapons drawn but not aimed at Loki at the moment. “Did he do anything of note maybe? Or did he just go straight to sleep?”

“Other than throwing up in the trash can? Nothing, sir,” one guard replied. “We also didn’t find anything on him, weapons or otherwise. He’s been pretty much like that since we got here.”

Tony found that neither too comforting nor disturbing. Slightly baffling, maybe. “Huh. Okay. So… Who’s going to poke him? ‘Cause I really don’t want to be the one to do that.”

The guard closest to Loki obliged, nudging Loki’s shoulder. Loki’s reaction was instantaneous; he jerked awake with a gasp, and looked around as if in panic. He then blinked several times and rubbed his eyes; when he lowered his hands, all traces of fear were gone from his face, replaced with a smirk—which, however, did look a little forced, and didn’t match his still tense frame.

“My deepest apologies for startling you,” Loki said, not sounding sorry at all, maybe a little embarrassed if anything.

“Yeah, no hard feelings,” Tony muttered. “Feeling better now?”

“Yes.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Thank you for your concern.” He didn’t sound grateful either.

“What exactly was that? With the Tesseract? Because I’m not sure if you wanted to show it to us or not.”

Loki grimaced momentarily. “No. Certainly not. But the Tesseract does not like being… contained.”

A chill ran down Tony’s spine as his mind went back to the cube locked in his lab. “So what, can it—can it explode or what? Should I—”

Loki shook his head. “No, not like that. You can put it in a box, in a jar, in a sack if you wish to, but if subjected to any kind of subspatial containment… It will protest. I could feel it fight before, but I was still able to keep it hidden without that much effort. Now, however…” He trailed off. “First things first. How is Thor?”

“He’s…” _Better,_ Tony wanted to say, but that was rather debatable. “Our best doctor, or medic, or healer, or whatever you call them in Asgard, is taking care of him. He should be—” _Fine,_ but Tony only wished for that, not knew that. “Anyway, he’s not dying.” Now _that_ came out wrong.

To Tony’s surprise, Loki let out a sigh of relief, relaxing a little, his smirk briefly turning into a genuine smile. “That’s… good to hear.”

 _Is it, though,_ Tony wanted to ask, but opted for something else. “Speaking of Thor, he told us you were dead. And you clearly are not.”

“You cannot exactly blame him. He certainly thought I was dead. Even _I_ thought so for a moment.”

“Okay… Care to elaborate?”

“No.”

Tony huffed in frustration. “Fine. Then I guess it’s irrelevant to what’s going on right now?”

“More or less, yes. But, once again, this is not what I promised to explain.”

“Just—hold on a second, okay?” Tony pulled up two chairs and sat down, gesturing for Rhodey to join him.

“Why exactly am _I_ here?” Rhodey asked in a hushed voice as he took his seat.

“Because I’d like someone sane on my side right now. And you can play the bad cop if you want to,” Tony responded and looked back at Loki. “Now, one question before we begin… Why would we trust you? How can we know you’re not going to feed us a bunch of lies? Or that it’s not another plan of yours?”

“You can’t,” Loki said bluntly. “But until Thor awakens, there is no one else you can ask. That leaves you little choice. You can either take the risk of believing me, or take the risk of _not_ believing me. And only time will tell you which is worse.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. That was exactly what he was afraid of. “We need more than that. Give us a reason, _any_ reason to make us trust you.”

Loki shrugged. “Thor will confirm what I have to say.”

“We don’t know _when_ he wakes up.”

“Hopefully before it is too late. I suppose you can always wait. You said he’s on his way to recovery.”

“I remember saying something slightly different—”

“Fine, you said he is not dying. For an Asgardian, this is more or less the same thing.”

If Tony wasn’t so doubtful of every word Loki was saying, he’d count it as the first good news of the evening. “Fine then… Let’s hear your story. Then we’ll decide if it’s bullshit or true. And I know what I’m betting on already.”

“I am always grateful for people’s faith in me,” Loki said mockingly. “Do you want the short version or the long version?”

“Maybe let’s start with the short one.”

“As you wish. Asgard was destroyed, we ended up on a stolen spaceship, which later got attacked, and then we fled here.”

For a moment, Tony just stared, his mind not quite processing the information. He opened his mouth, then closed it, not knowing what to say, then opened it again, only to choke out a confused, “Wait, _what?_ ”

“Asgard is destroyed?” Rhodey blurted out beside him, equally shocked. “As in, your home planet? _Destroyed?!_ How the—was it whoever attacked you or—”

“No, that was a giant fire demon. Which is already dead now.”

“A _what now?_ ”

“None of your concern. Or anyone’s. He’s _dead._ ”

“Yeah, but _Asgard was destroyed?_ ” Tony threw his hands up in the air. “Is that how Thor—”

Loki sighed. “No, that was later. I just _told you that._ We, along with… the surviving Asgardians, boarded a ship and escaped.” For a second, sadness seemed to ring in Loki’s voice. “We meant to head for Earth, but we were attacked on the way. Thor tried to fight the attackers, but was overpowered. I helped him get to safety.”

“You. Helped him.” Tony didn’t even try to hide the disbelief from his voice.

“Yes, imagine I am capable of that sometimes,” Loki shot back.

“I’m just not exactly sure what I find more improbable: that you helped Thor or that someone apparently _overpowered him._ ”

Tony could swear he saw Loki trying to suppress a shudder at that. “Thor is… not quite as invincible as you mortals might think.” He looked down. “There are things in this universe that are too powerful even for him to defeat.”

A horrible feeling just punched Tony in the gut. “Please don’t tell me Earth is their next stop.”

Loki raised his head; once again he grew tense. “Not necessarily the next. But yes, they will definitely head here sooner or later.”

Blood drained from Tony’s face. He pointed a finger at Loki, wishing he still had his emergency gauntlet so he could blast him again. “I knew it!” he shouted. “I knew it, dammit, you’re leading them here and—”

“I am _not,_ ” Loki protested, somehow both offended and anxious. “If anything, I’m trying to get away from them as far as possible.”

“You just _said_ they’re coming here—”

“They would even I did not show up.” Loki hesitated, as if reconsidering, but then continued, “They still would. With or without me, Earth always has had something they— _he_ craves.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “So it’s a _he_ now? Just one guy?”

“He is not just _‘one guy,’_ Stark. He almost killed Thor. He is not to be trifled with. And he has _resources._ ”

“Okay, wait, just—” Tony pressed his fingers to his temples, breathing in and out. Asgard destroyed. Thor almost dying. Some new cosmic menace threatening Earth. And the Tesseract being the glowing cherry on top of this disaster cake. That was much, _much_ worse than he’d expected.

“I think—I need more information,” he said eventually. “Can I have the long version? As in, _long._ I want details. I want to know what we should be prepared for. You can even skip the whole destruction of Asgard part for now, just—tell us what happened. Why you’re here. _Details._ ”

Loki stared back at him for a moment, only to lower his gaze again, saying nothing. His unburned hand clenched.

Then, he took a deep breath and began his tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am actually a big fan of ending a chapter just when it looks like something interesting is about to happen.


	3. Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't manage to post this chapter before Infinity War... but I won't see it until Saturday ( _aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ ), so it kind of counts? (no, it doesn't)
> 
> Anyway, it's flashback time!
> 
> (I'm also mad at AO3 for not letting me use small caps, or at me for not figuring how to do it without small-capping the whole paragraph, grumblitty grumble)

Loki’s heart hammered in his chest as he strode through one of the _Statesman’s_ many corridors, drops of sweat trickling down his forehead. He knew it could happen. He was prepared for that, had a plan in case it came to this. But he wasn’t ready. He could _never_ possibly be ready for this.

The people he passed on his way already knew something was wrong, confusion and fear written all over their faces. Some just noticed the engines were not running anymore, some saw the gargantuan ship from the windows in their cabins, while the rest just caught up by asking questions. Panic was starting to spread and Loki couldn’t blame them. The memory of Ragnarok was still fresh in their minds, they had barely managed to make it out alive. Their hope was brittle and even the smallest threat could act like a spark setting off an explosion, to say nothing of something the size of the _Sanctuary II._

But Loki didn’t spare a second to try to comfort them or to answer their increasingly desperate questions. He was already out of time, with the _Sanctuary II_ having made the first move, disabling their engines. He needed to act before things got worse.

The fact that Thor was stubbornly following him and calling after him, was not helping. At least the people soon slowed Thor down. Unlike Loki, he tried his best to calm them down, even though he was as in the dark about the nature of the threat as they were. However, he also didn’t shy from telling them to be prepared in case anything happened, even if at the same time he kept assuring them that it was most probably just a temporary setback. Loki wondered if Thor really believed that himself.

When he finally got to the comm room, Loki immediately walked up to the console and looked at the screen. They weren’t being hailed. Loki took a shuddering breath. If they didn’t even want to talk—

“Loki, will you finally _tell me what is going on?!_ ”

Loki whirled around and saw Thor enter the room, looking no less confused than the rest of their people, but also certainly angrier, with his brows knitted low and a dangerous gleam in his eye.

“Thor, listen—” Loki raised his hands. “Let me handle this. I know what I am doing. But there is no time to explain.”

“So you _really_ do know.” Thor’s frown deepened. “Did you—” He paused, struggling to spit out the rest. “Are they—are they here because of you? Have you contacted them, told them how to find us?” His voice vibrated with anger, but Loki could hear more than that. That was not just any anger. That was anger born of _hurt._

“I haven’t, brother, I swear. I _haven’t._ ” Loki placed a hand over his restless heart, wondering if it even meant anything to Thor anymore, if there was any oath he could make that Thor would believe after so much betrayal.

“Then explain,” Thor demanded, stepping closer until he was standing right in front of Loki. “Who are they? Where did they come from? We need all the information we can get to defend ourselves in case—”

“You will not have to defend yourself if my plan works,” Loki cut in. _And if it doesn’t, we are all doomed._ But he couldn’t bring himself to say that. “There’s no time for explaining. I only need to talk to them, but whatever I say, whatever you may hear, I want you not to interfere.”

“Loki—”

“I can get us out of this, Thor. Trust me.”

He jumped a little when Thor’s hand fell on his shoulder, the gleam in Thor’s eye fading as he regarded his brother cautiously, as if looking for any sign of deception—or rather, for its absence.

“Very well,” Thor uttered in the end. “I will. And I hope you succeed. But once this is over, you _will_ explain everything to me, yes, brother?”

Loki nodded. “Of course I will.”

Not that he wanted to. Some part of him still hoped that maybe he wouldn’t have to. But whether he did or not, Thor was bound to discover the truth soon. He could no longer keep Thor out of this for much longer and there wasn’t much he could do to soften the blow.

He turned back the console. It did not take him long to find the right frequency, but he hesitated, his hand hovering over the button that would initialize the connection. He breathed deeply, trying to compose himself, and finally pushed it.

“ _Sanctuary II,_ this is Loki of Asgard,” he said, forcing himself to keep his voice level. “I have what you want. All we want in return is for you to let us continue our journey undisturbed.”

He could feel Thor’s burning gaze on his back, but thankfully, Thor remained silent. But so did the _Sanctuary II._ Loki checked the settings; everything seemed to be in order. They must have at least received the message.

 _It’s pointless,_ a voice in his head whispered. _They already made up their mind and they are coming for you._

He pushed it away and tried again. “ _Sanctuary II,_ do you hear me? I repeat, I have what you want. Let us resolve the matter in a peaceful manner.”

Nothing. His hands were starting to shake.

“ _Sanctuary II,_ please respond if you can hear me.” He couldn’t stop fear from seeping into his voice, his heartbeat so fast it almost hurt.

“We can hear you just fine, Loki of Asgard,” a smooth voice replied calmly over the comm. Loki’s breath hitched; he recognized it instantly. He hadn’t spoken with any of the Black Order much, but when he had, it was usually Ebony Maw.

“That’s good,” Loki said, trying to sound as confident as he could. “As I was saying, I have it. And I only have one condition—”

“Condition, you say?” Ebony Maw cut in, his voice suddenly tinged with malicious amusement that sent a chill down Loki’s spine. “We didn’t come to talk about _conditions._ Of course you will give us the Tesseract. But on _our_ terms.”

The connection was abruptly broken and Loki felt as if someone had sucked the air out of the room; his head was spinning and he leaned against the console, breathing heavily.

 _Oh Norns. Oh by the Norns. I failed. It’s over. I_ failed.

_I killed us all._

Suddenly, strong hands were upon him, forcing him to turn around. He was about to summon a dagger, when he realized he was looking straight into Thor’s face.

“What have you _done?!_ ” Thor growled with what Loki thought was barely controlled rage, but then Thor’s face crumbled, and he gasped for air, struggling to speak, head hung low. When he spoke again, his voice was little more than a whisper. “What have you done, Loki?” Thor looked up, his single eye glistening with tears. “The Tesseract—why do you—who _are_ they?”

That wasn’t rage. That was disbelief. Pain. _Disappointment._

Loki wanted to make it go away, to say something, to finally spill out all the secrets he was so tired of hiding, but all of a sudden he didn’t know where to start.

“Thor! Thor, what’s going— _oh._ ”

Their heads turned to the door; the Valkyrie walked in, with the Hulk staying behind, too big to fit in here, looking very eager to smash something.

“Valkyrie—” Thor let go of Loki and faced her. “Go and gather anyone capable of fighting, we may have to—”

“No,” Loki finally choked out. “We cannot win this.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on him, each gaze an urgent question that didn’t have to be said out loud.

Loki swallowed hard. It was high time he came clean, for his own sake and everyone else’s. But was so _hard_ to spit it out, the accursed name cutting his lips like a thorn, filing his mouth with the taste of blood.

“It’s—it’s Thanos the Mad Titan.”

The Valkyrie gasped in shock. Thor only frowned in puzzlement.

“Thanos?” he repeated the name, and Loki almost couldn’t believe how anyone could speak it with such ease. “I heard that somewhere, I know I did, but—”

“The ancient scourge of the universe,” the Valkyrie said with terrified awe. “The Suitor of Death. He who yearns to sacrifice half of all life there is in her honor. Even Hela found him… impressive. But neither she nor me and my shield-sisters ever met him,” she added as Thor opened his mouth to speak, his face dawning with realization. “This is just what we learned from our history lessons. I suppose this is also where you heard the name.”

“I met him after I fell into the Void,” Loki cut in before any of them could continue. This could be his last chance to say it, so he needed to explain everything as quickly as he could—as good an excuse to omit the grisly details as any. “We made a deal: he gave me the Chitauri army so I could conquer Earth, and in exchange I would bring him the Tesseract. But you—” he looked at Thor “—you stopped me. And now he’s here to collect his due.” He paused for breath. “You only know him from stories. I met him in person. We can’t defeat him.”

Thor eyed him, lips drawn into a tight line, clearly considering something.

“If you have the Tesseract, can’t you use it to get us out of here?” he asked.

Loki shook his head. “It’s an Infinity Stone. This is too much power than I can wield. At best, it could kill me. At worst, it could kill all of us if I tried to relocate the whole ship.”

Thor’s face fell just as a dull _thud_ suddenly echoed in the distance and the whole ship shook, throwing them off balance. That was no explosion, more like a sound of something heavy colliding with the hull of the ship. An alert flashed on the screen, warning about an unauthorized docking. The airlock was still intact, but it was surely just a matter of time.

“We need to run,” Loki said, no longer caring how desperate he sounded. “The escape pods are our only chance, and if we leave the Tesseract behind for them to look for, we may—”

“ _No,_ ” Thor interjected with so much force that Loki snapped his mouth shut. His fists were clenched, and a spark danced briefly across his fingers. “We’re lot leaving the Tesseract in the hands of that madman. And I will _not run._ ”

The words felt like a splash of icy water against Loki’s skin. He was about to ask what Thor meant by that—a pointless question, he could clearly see where it was going and he could not let that happen—but then Thor threw his head back and shouted, “Heimdall! Get as many people as you can to the escape pods. We need to evacuate the ship as soon as—”

This time it was an explosion, loud and powerful enough to knock all of them but the Hulk off their feet. The screen glowed red, announcing that the airlock had been breached, and the alarm blared over their heads.

Groaning, Loki got up, rubbing the side of his head where it had collided with the console. He blinked the blurriness from his vision and saw that Thor and Valkyrie were already back up as well.

“You three, go,” Thor said, not a request but an order. “Find an escape pod and try to reach Earth. We should be close enough—”

“No, I’ll help you—” Valkyrie protested, but Thor cut her short.

“Then help our people get to Earth—them and the Hulk. You’re his friend, so it’ll be better if he travels with you.”

“Hulk help too.” The Hulk punched the wall for emphasis. “Hulk fight puny Thanos!”

“No, Hulk go with the Valkyrie to Earth,” Thor shot back angrily. “And do your best to shift back into Banner on your way there.”

The Hulk huffed. “No Banner. You say you like Hulk.”

“Yes, but Asgard may need an additional mediator on Earth, and it would be good if he was an Earthling. And humans are more likely to listen to Banner than to the Hulk.”

“Ugh. Hulk not want to.”

“But you want to help, right? _This_ will help, friend.” Thor patted his arm. “Just go with the Valkyrie. Save yourself, save Banner, _save my people._ ”

The Hulk seemed to consider this for brief moment before finally grunting in reluctant agreement. “Hulk go. Hulk help. Angry Girl lead?”

The Valkyrie looked at him, then at Thor, and nodded. “As you command, my King.” She paused, then added quietly, “Good luck.”

She turned on her heel and hurried off, the Hulk following closely.

“You too.” Thor grabbed Loki by his arm and dragged him outside; Loki was too startled to protest. “Hurry up. Protect the Tesseract. I assume you have it on you, yes?”

“Yes, but—”

Thor didn’t let him finish. “Then keep it there at least until you get to safety. Try to board the same pod as Heimdall, let him speak first once you land. If not him, then maybe the Valkyrie. Now go.”

He was about to run off, but Loki caught him by the arm. “Thor, don’t. _Don’t._ Come with us. You cannot possibly—”

“I told you I will not run!” Thor growled at him and Loki let go as lightning coursed down Thor’s arm. “This is the least I can do, face Thanos and—”

“You _cannot_ fight him, Thor!” He placed himself in Thor’s way. “You can’t go there, if you do—”

“I give my people more time to escape. The time I am wasting now because you keep stalling me! Out of my way!”

“You want to protect your people? Then _run with them._ Lead them somewhere safe. Be the king they need.”

Thor hesitated, his features softening just a little, and for a moment Loki thought he could convince him—but then Thor spoke again, his voice losing all its firmness, sounding almost like a plea.

“No, Loki. You do that.”

Taken aback, Loki just stared, the words echoing in his head, his tongue suddenly useless, no response coming to him. He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t allow it. _He couldn’t allow it._ But neither could he decline, not when Thor was looking at him with such determination, sadness, and, oddly enough, a faint glimmer of _hope_ in his eye.

Listening to him would doom him, but refusing to would disappoint him, _again,_ and Loki didn’t know what would be worse.

He noticed the purple light seeping through growing cracks a split second too late.

Loki didn’t even have enough time to shout a warning when the explosion engulfed him in a deafening boom, reducing the world to metal and light. He was flying, then he hit something and he was falling, then he tumbled down, and finally the whole world collapsed on his head, burying him underneath.

It didn’t kill him. Everything hurt, but as far as he could tell, nothing was even broken. He was able to move, but he stayed where he was, his whole body shaking.

 _It’s over. It’s_ over.

Once the ringing in his ears died down, he could hear distant screams, the cry of bent metal, the crackle of electricity from the exposed, mangled wiring. Asgard was falling for the second time and it was all his fault.

He had come to save them. And he had, only to condemn them shortly thereafter.

 _Get up, you idiot,_ he urged himself. _Get up and do_ something.

But what could he do? All was lost. Thanos was here. There was nothing left to do but wait for the inevitable. It wasn’t as if anything could possibly get _worse_ if he stayed under the wreckage.

_Protect the Tesseract._

Loki’s heart skipped a beat.

_Lead them somewhere safe. Be the king they need._

_No, Loki. You do that._

He gritted his teeth.

Maybe there was still someone left to save. Maybe he could at least salvage what was left. Maybe this one time he _wouldn’t_ disappoint Thor.

_Thor—_

Where was Thor? Was he still nearby? Had the explosion thrown him somewhere else? Even if it hadn’t, there still had been enough time for him to go somewhere else. He could be facing the deadly danger in this very moment—or he could already be—

Then Loki heard thunder.

All other thoughts were gone from his mind. His magic surged forwards and with an enraged cry, he blasted most of the debris surrounding him away. He scrambled to his feet, tossing aside the rest of the wreckage, and looked around, his stomach turning.

The floor was littered with bodies.

Blood drained from Loki’s face and the weight of his actions threatened to crush him where he stood, But he pressed onwards, towards where he’d heard the thunder, trying not to look at the dead men, women, and children at his feet.

_Death. Your legacy is death._

Loki pushed the thought away. He couldn’t afford for guilt to slow him down now.

He could try one more time. The Tesseract was still in his possession, maybe striking a bargain was still possible. There was still a chance to save at least some lives. At least _one_ life.

He carried on though the ruined passages and rooms until he finally saw someone coming from the opposite direction, surveying the gruesome scene. Loki was about to call out to them when he realized that was no Asgardian, not even one of the Sakaaran rebels. The moment he did, the person—a tall, horned woman wielding a bloodstained three-pronged spear—locked her eyes with him.

Proxima Midnight was perhaps the one least known Black Order member to him, but she’d been distinct enough to leave a mark on his memory, and more than that.

“Loki of Asgard,” she said without a hint of emotion, pointing her weapon at him. “Our Father is expecting you.”

He didn’t answer at first, fighting to hide how afraid he was. The mere mention of their Father— _here, so close, waiting for him_ —chilled him to the bone.

“Are you coming willingly or do I have to drag you to him?” she asked, growing impatient.

Loki set his jaw. If he wanted to have any chance of striking a bargain, resistance was out of the question.

“Lead the way,” he replied.

“I don’t think so.” She jerked her spear, indicating for him to move first. He complied, his steps slow and careful, and only when he moved past her, Proxima joined him, following closely behind, her spear still raised and pointed at him.

They continued like that for a moment, when Loki heard voices. They were too quiet for him to make out any words, or to guess who was talking—until he managed to hear a low murmur.

It was still too silent for Loki to understand, but distinct enough, _familiar enough_ for him to freeze, his breath caught in his throat.

The worst of his nightmares was just right behind the corner, and if Loki took the turn, there would not be a way out anymore, no escape, and he would be walking straight into death’s arms or _worse—_

“Turn left,” Proxima ordered, poking him in the back with her spear. “ _Now._ ”

Loki did, even as his knees threatened to fold underneath him, even as he fought the urge to make a run for it. And then he stopped dead again, staring at the horrific scene before his eyes

“So you finally decide to join us,” Thanos the Mad Titan said with a grin, standing among the ruins of the main corridor. His left hand was raised, encased in a golden gauntlet— _the Infinity Gauntlet,_ Loki realized, the _real_ one—and there was already one stone set into it, gleaming with purple light. The Power Stone, one that, when Loki had last heard of it, had been stored by the Nova Corps on Xandar. So Asgard hadn’t been the first world to fall in the newest stage of this ancient conquest.

The rest of the Black Order was here, at their so-called Father’s side—the cunning Ebony Maw, the hulking Cull Obsidian, and the vicious Corvus Glaive. Their eyes turned to Loki, but none of them made even a step in his direction.

Loki, however, barely noticed their presence. His own gaze was fixed on the beaten man at Thanos’ feet, ragged red cape covering his back, one eye halfway closed.

_No no no NO NO NO NO—_

With deliberate slowness, Thanos grabbed the man’s head; Thor groaned in pain when Thanos lifted him off the floor until he was on his knees, limp like a rag doll, battered and bloody, a fresh, deep wound in his side.

Loki wanted to run to him, to tear him out of Thanos’ grasp, but he could only stare in terror.

“Remember how you wished to see him like this?” Thanos said. “How you cursed his name and wanted to crush him?”

Loki’s heart burned with shame at the memory, and at once froze with fear. If Thanos was going to fulfill that wish now—

But Thanos apparently wasn’t going to do it, at least not at the moment. “Now, come closer.” Thanos extended his gauntleted hand in an inviting gesture. His voice was jarringly soft and calm. “Do not withhold it from me any longer. I can hear its calling even when it’s concealed. Come and settle your debt, Loki.”

Right. The Tesseract. Thor. The debt. The bargain. That was his last chance to try and save what was left of his people. What was left of his family.

He steeled himself, clenching and unclenching his fists, before finally stepping forward. He tried to look at Thanos only, but couldn’t stop his eyes from darting to Thor. At the edges of his vision, he could notice the Black Order closing down on him, cutting off his way back.

“D-don’t you dare,” Thor rasped. “Don’t—don’t do it, Loki, don’t—” He screamed when Thanos tightened his grip on his head.

Loki shuddered, stopping in his tracks, only a few paces before Thanos.

“What are you waiting for?” Thanos asked, almost as if he was speaking to a scared child.

“I have—I want—” Loki forced himself to swallow his fear. “I have one condition. You let us go. Me, my brother, everyone left alive on this ship. That is all.”

Thanos hummed, regarding him. “I thought the terms of our bargain were clear. And we certainly have already fulfilled our part.”

“The circumstances have _changed._ ” Loki was surprised to hear such firmness in his voice.

“Indeed they have.” Thanos leaned towards him, frowning. “You were supposed to bring the Mind Stone back.”

Loki’s heart sank, words failing him. “It—it was taken from me, I did not keep it for myself—” Useless arguments, he could see that clearly, he was grasping at straws, but even they were slipping away.

“That is irrelevant. Tell me now, Loki, how am I supposed to cater to more of your whims if you haven’t even been able to keep your end of the bargain?”

Loki froze as Thanos lifted Thor higher, and Thor howled in pain as the Titan threatened to crush his skull.

“Do tell me, Loki,” Thanos sneered. Thor’s feet were no longer touching the floor as he futilely tried to lift his hands high enough to pry off Thanos’ fingers. “I am waiting for you to change my mind.”

But Loki couldn’t think of anything. No new arguments, nothing else to offer, no way of cheating his way out. All he could think of was _Thor,_ and Thor was _dying,_ and Loki only had one thing he could possibly trade for his life.

“ _Please!_ ” Loki cried out and extended his right hand, calling forth the Tesseract. The cube materialized in his trembling hand, basking them all in its cold blue glow. “Please, take it. _Take it._ It’s yours. Just leave him. _Let him go._ ”

He stood there, panting, as Thanos looked at the Tesseract, his eyes ablaze with hunger—and then Thanos dropped Thor, who just crumpled to the ground and remained there, motionless.

“Wise choice, Loki,” Thanos said and reached for the Tesseract.

And in that moment, Loki knew. From the gleam in Thanos’ eyes, from the way he smiled maliciously, from the twitch of his fingers—it all was clear. There was no hope. No mercy. The moment Thanos took the Tesseract, they would be dead.

There were no other chances. No other options. There was only—

There was _the Tesseract._

 _At best, it could kill me,_ Loki had told Thor.

It could also offer them both a chance Thanos wasn’t going to give. They had nothing to lose. And Loki had only seconds to make the decision.

It was enough.

He took a deep breath, as if preparing to dive, and let the Tesseract’s power latch onto his magic.

His soul was on fire. The whole universe stretched out before him, vast, overwhelming, and within his reach. It sang with countless voices, entwined in a strange harmony, each like a hand pulling in a different direction. The Tesseract shone like a bright star in his hand, and it _burned_ as he felt like he was dissolving into nothingness, his body too fragile a vessel for such power.

And in all of that immeasurable expanse, among the billions of galaxies, among the myriads of worlds, there was one single point, one single person Loki forced himself to focus on.

Thanos already noticed, backing slightly away and lifting the hand wearing the Gauntlet, the glow of the Power Stone growing stronger. But Loki was quicker.

With one thought, he jumped to Thor, using the split second he had to wrap his arms around him while still clutching the burning Tesseract in one hand. With one more thought, they were _gone._

But there was no direction. That was just like the Void, unpredictable and unrelenting, the Tesseract being the only thing that kept them safe from the surrounding chaos. They just darted into the unknown, tearing through space with no aim other than _away,_ and Loki felt he wouldn’t be able to take for much longer, the Tesseract’s power both shielding them and devouring him. He needed _somewhere_ to go before it killed them both.

They needed a safe place, somewhere where they could both recover. They needed allies. Loki had no allies anymore. But Thor had allies. Thor had friends.

_The Avengers._

The moment he thought of it, they landed.

It wasn’t even a crash; Loki just felt the ground beneath his feet, but he still collapsed from exhaustion, dropping the Tesseract and letting go of Thor. He felt as if he’d just walked through a firestorm, and his right hand seemed to have taken the worst of it. The damp grass under him felt soothing, but he barely spared a few seconds to take it in.

“Th-Thor?” he choked out, rising to his knees. “Thor, can you—” Loki shook Thor by his shoulder, but there was no response. Suppressing the rising panic, Loki pressed his fingers to Thor’s neck and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse underneath the bruised skin. Thor was severely wounded, unconscious, barely alive—but _alive_ nevertheless. And as long as he was alive, he could still be helped.

Loki finally looked around. The buildings around him looked definitely Midgardian, and the stylized glowing ‘A’ only confirmed that they’d come to the right place. Loki could see people rushing somewhere behind the windows and made a safe bet as to what was the cause of the commotion. He turned his attention back to the Tesseract and picked it up with his good hand, intending to hide it—but the Tesseract fought against his tattered magic, reluctant to be stashed away.

 _Shit—_ hide, _you accursed trinket, they cannot see you—_

It finally disappeared into his hold, but he could still feel it rebelling, pushing against the invisible walls of its prison with more power than before—or rather, Loki thought grimly, simply not encountering enough resistance. He could only hope he would be able to keep it hidden long enough for no mortal to see.

He heard footsteps drawing near and returned to Thor, picking him up with more difficulty than he expected and allowing his unconscious body to lean against him. He barely did that, when a group of people in suits surrounded him and Thor, aiming their weapons at them—small wonder, considering his last visit on the planet.

Another man joined the circle only a few seconds later and Loki didn’t know whether he should feel relieved to see him or groan in frustration. That was surely Thor’s friend. But he also surely didn’t like Loki even a little bit, and the feeling was mutual.

“Stark,” Loki spoke, his voice raspy and full of urgency, “we need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the Oscar for the Most Underutilized Character in this fic goes collectively to the Black Order.


	4. Remnant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Infinity War_ broke my heart into pieces and I still haven't quite patched it up, but thic fic continues as if nothing happened, because that's what fics do and I'm not letting such silly things as this year's biggest and most emotionally devastating movie get in the way.
> 
> So here it is, the final chapter, in which there is more people talking. And also mush, because of course.
> 
> (Sorry for the delay - this one turned out to be more troublesome to write than I anticipated!)

Tony was speechless and that didn’t happen often. His ability to come up with a suitable reply to basically everything was something he was rather proud of. Now, however, after Loki had finished talking, Tony had no idea what to say. That had been a _lot_ to take in. And also a lot to process and determine what was true and what was not—because _no way_ Loki had been entirely honest with them. Even though…

For the most part Loki had been trying to appear impassive, but that was the thing: _trying._ Sometimes his voice cracked a little and eyes glistened before he blinked it away. There were uncomfortable pauses and barely noticeable twitches of his hands. There was a brief moment when he was talking about Thanos, and his already pale skin turned even whiter, his eyes grew wide with such terror even Tony doubted it was entirely fake, only for Loki to close them quickly before continuing his story.

Of course, it could still be an act. But until they could talk to Thor, they had no way to corroborate Loki’s version, and Tony had to rely on his own guesses and suspicions. It didn’t help that he was rather biased.

There were parts of Loki’s story that Tony was on the fence about—if there really was some new alien Big Bad, strong enough to defeat Thor, armed with an artifact as powerful as the Tesseract _and_ still wanting the cube for himself so that he could kill half of the universe, then they should get ready for it somehow. Tony didn’t exactly know _how_ at the moment, but they would figure it out. And if there wasn’t… Better safe than sorry, he surmised. On the other hand, if that Thanos really had been Loki’s ally once, who was to say they weren’t working together again? What seemed like a warning could’ve been just misinformation, riddled with half-truths, enough to make them trust Loki, not enough to save them once Thanos arrived. They had to tread carefully here, but Loki had been right: outright dismissing that was a risk, _too much_ of a risk.

There were parts that Tony _wanted_ to believe. That the Hulk—Bruce Banner— _Bruce_ —was alive, having ended up on the other side of the universe for some reason, and was coming back home—

 _If he survived the attack,_ Tony thought despite himself. He tried to convince himself that Bruce and the Hulk could take a lot and still emerge without a scratch—but then, he’d once thought the same of Thor.

And then there were parts that Tony just _couldn’t_ believe. Like Loki suddenly being on such good terms with his brother and going all heroic to help him. Even when Thor had brought them the news of Loki’s apparent demise, Tony found that bit about the whole selfless sacrifice thing a little fishy—and for a pretty good reason, it would seem, given that Loki turned out to be _not that dead,_ which quite seriously undermined everything about that story.

Perhaps it was the least important bit of the testimony, given the cosmic scale of the threat they were facing. But Tony didn’t like being lied to, even more so when the lies concerned his friends.

“So… Thanos the Mad Titan, huh?” Tony eventually spoke, breaking the silence. “Sounds pretty dramatic. Honestly, I’d say it’s a load of crap, but if six years ago somebody told me a Norse god with a silly helmet was going to invade New York and make a hole in space just above my skyscraper, I’d tell them to seek professional help, so…” He shifted in his seat. “How do we prepare?” Maybe it wasn’t the smartest of him to ask his once greatest enemy that, but they had to start somewhere. Worst case scenario, they would simply do the opposite of what Loki advised them.

Loki gave him an almost amused look. “Prepare?”

“Yeah. You know, what would work against him and whatever army he brings with himself, what should we use to defend ourselves, things like that. You know him, you used to work for him, so you should know how to beat him.”

“Correction: I know him, so I know he _cannot_ be beaten. Especially not by you. And especially not now when he has the Power Stone.”

Tony winced. “Surely there is _some_ way? I mean, Earth now has the Tesseract _and_ the Mind Stone, so technically we have an advantage?”

“Not if you don’t know how to use them.”

“But _you_ do. Erik Selvig knows, you made him build that portal-opening machine, didn’t you? Hydra came up with a way to weaponize the Tesseract over _seventy years ago._ And a friend of ours seems to be pretty good at using the Mind Stone. And I bet we can figure out something new, or at least I can. There has to be a way. You wouldn’t come here if you hadn’t something in mind, right?”

Loki let out a heavy sigh. “I _had_ a plan. And I just told you how _well_ it worked. Coming here was never a part of it.” He paused for a moment, his brow furrowed. “Listen, Stark, Thanos is experienced, he knows very well what he’s doing, and he is powerful even without the aid of the Stones. The Chitauri I commanded six years ago were just a small part of the army he has at his disposal—and they were not the deadliest part. They have access to weapons you haven’t even dreamt of—”

Tony cleared his throat. Loki glared at him, but otherwise ignored it.

“The Tesseract’s inherent power—the Space Stone’s, because that is what it really is,” Loki continued, “is different from the Power Stone’s, as you might guess just by looking at the name. If you managed to harness its energy for a different purpose, maybe it would buy you some time, but with the current state of your technology, it would not be enough to save you in the end anyway. As for the Mind Stone and your friend… the artificial man, Vision, that’s what he is called, if I remember correctly?

Tony twitched nervously. “I don’t remember telling you about him?”

“I preferred to check up on certain matters every now and then during my time as a dead man.” Loki gave Tony a rather unpleasant smile. “I know what became of the scepter and of the Mind Stone. I know your Vision is naturally inclined to use it with more ease than the most, given how it’s literally a vital part of him. But he is still a novice, and right now the thing in your friend’s forehead is not a beacon of hope. It’s a death sentence. Thanos will stop at nothing to take it from him, and I think it’s highly unlikely that Vision will survive that.”

“Aren’t you being too pessimistic?” Rhodey asked. “It’s two Stones to one, and you said they’re the most powerful objects in existence—”

“Oh, for—” Loki rolled his eyes. “Did you even listen to me? The stones differ in nature and to tap into their full potential you would need some kind of aid—and the Gauntlet is the _ultimate_ aid. I almost _died_ when I used the Space Stone to get me and Thor here, even though it’s encased. This is not really a matter of who has the most, but who can make the best use of them and not get killed in the process. And what is even a sharpest sword in the hands of a child?”

“Seriously?” Tony leaned forwards, fighting the urge to punch Loki in the face. “Even after we totally kicked your ass last time, you still think we are oh so _weak?_ Do I have to remind you that at the time we beat you, it was _you_ who was in possession of two Infinity Stones?”

He grinned in satisfaction as Loki straightened up, his cheeks growing slightly pink and his eyes avoiding Tony’s.

“I… might have underestimated you,” Loki admitted somewhat quietly before raising his voice back to a normal volume. “But that is not the point. Allow me to put things into perspective, then. Thanos had _no_ Stones when he attacked Xandar and yet he managed to take the Power Stone from one of the most advanced military organizations in the universe. Do you really think you stand a chance when even they failed?”

He seemed not to realize the full gravity of his words until he said them, lowering his eyes and taking a ragged breath.

“You can try stalling him if you want to,” Loki said, and it struck Tony how his voice sounded now, not mocking or threatening, but _hollow,_ almost painfully so. “But you cannot win. Not against him.”

Tony regarded him in silence for a moment. Maybe that was why he’d come—to break their spirit and convince them to surrender to his superior without a fight. But the longer Tony looked at Loki, at his hunched shoulders, his unfocused gaze, his hands, the quivering of which he was obviously and unsuccessfully trying to hide, the less likely it seemed to him.

Tony knew all too well how hopelessness looked like. He’d seen it before, including a few times in a mirror. Now he was seeing it again, right in front of him.

And Tony was having none of that.

“Okay, no,” Tony said firmly. “If you’re going to say we should just give up, or I don’t know, run and hide, then shut up right now. Because like _hell_ I’m going to give up.”

Loki looked up at him, cocking his head. “Stark… You have no idea what you’re up against.”

“Hey, that happens to me a lot and I’m still alive and kicking .”

“This is much bigger than—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Tony cut in, raising his hands. “You’re a small fry, while this Thanos guy is actually dangerous.” He almost smirked at the affronted look Loki gave him. “But you know what? Don’t underestimate us again. He wants to come here and take the Stones for himself? Fine, we’ll be waiting, ready to blast his genocidal titanic ass into—”

“Boss?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke somewhere above their heads. “If I may interrupt, Thor is awake.”

Tony almost choked on the next word he was about to say. He managed to swallow it and addressed F.R.I.D.A.Y., looking up, “He—he is? Oh, great—is he fully aware? How is he?”

“He is still weak, but responsive. It’s still too early to speculate if he’ll make a full recovery, but such an early awakening may be a good sign.”

“Well, that’s—that’s awesome.” Tony dared to smile and leaned back, the stress keeping his body tense for the last two hours or so finally starting to drain away. At last, something positive was happening. “We’re so drinking to that. We deserve it. But first—” He raised his finger to stop Rhodey, who was probably just about to say that drinking had to wait. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., I suppose it’s probably still a bit too early for us to come and talk to Thor?”

“Doctor Cho is against it, at least for now. She says he needs to be left unbothered for a while, at least until morning. However, he insists on seeing his brother, and she is willing to permit a brief visit.”

Tony’s eyes turned to Loki, meeting his gaze—and the sight was rather surprising. After everything Loki had told them, Tony expected him to look relieved, maybe even outright glad. Instead, Loki seemed… conflicted. Anxious, even.

Tony’s first impression was that Loki had lied to them and Thor would now disprove his story… but then, Loki didn’t strike Tony as someone who would make such an obvious slip after trying so hard to deceive them all along. The problem was something else—and, thinking back to Loki’s testimony, Tony had a feeling he knew what it could be.

“Well? Are you going?” Tony asked, trying not to sound too pushy. Loki twitched at that.

“I did not expect you would allow this.” Something in Loki’s voice sounded almost as if he hoped Tony wouldn’t. And earlier this evening that probably would’ve been Tony’s decision. Now, however, even despite the still lingering doubts, it didn’t feel like the best course of action anymore—and certainly not the most charitable.

Tony suppressed a nervous laugh. He felt like being charitable towards Loki— _Loki,_ of all people. The world was really coming to an end. Then again, it wasn’t really _just_ about Loki.

“Well, if my friend wishes to have a chat with his evil little brother, I’m not going to tell him no.” He rose from his seat and waved at the door. “Let’s have a family reunion, shall we?”

 

* * *

 

Stark was polite enough to give them privacy—at least some of it, as while no one was to accompany Loki into the infirmary, Stark made it clear that he still didn’t trust him enough to turn the cameras off. Although, to his credit, he promised to at least mute the microphone and gave his friend Rhodey an official permission to punch him if he as much as thought of turning it back on before Thor and Loki were done talking.

Loki was polite enough to give him a stiff ‘thank you.’ But the moment the infirmary’s door closed behind him, he wanted to turn around and go back. For the second time in the last few hours, the chill of fear spread into his soul as he faced a nightmare—but it was a different nightmare now, a different kind of helplessness he felt as he looked at Thor, lying on his back in the bed.

Thor’s armor had been removed and wounds dressed, bandages covering most of his torso and arms. His left hand was resting on his chest, with a tube attached to it and connected to an IV drip, and a heart monitor nearby kept beeping steadily, assuring whomever it might concern that his heartbeat was much better than when he’d just arrived. In any other circumstances, Loki would scoff at the crudeness of Midgardian medicine, but now, when it was keeping his brother alive, he had absolutely no right to complain.

From where he stood, Loki couldn’t see Thor’s good eye. Thor could be asleep again. Or he could be just staring at the ceiling, unaware of the fact he had a visitor.

Or maybe he was aware, but couldn’t care less.

He _did_ care, Loki reminded himself. Thor wanted to see him, after all. He was probably worried, wondering if Loki was alive and well, considering the last time he’d seen him—

The last time he’d seen him, Loki had disobeyed him. Betrayed him again. To save Thor, yes, but at the cost of everything else.

Loki sucked in a breath, taking a tentative step forward. Surely it would ease at least _some_ to Thor’s feel pain to see him here? Or would he only make everything worse—as he’d always managed to do, whether he wanted it or not?

Suddenly he froze as Thor turned his head and looked at him and a second Loki was certain he saw relief flashing briefly across Thor’s features—but in a blink of an eye it was gone, all emotion draining away from his face, leaving behind only weariness. Thor didn’t say anything before turning his tired gaze back to the ceiling.

So different from not so long ago, when he’d given Loki the warmest of smiles just before pulling him into a hug, when they’d both thought they could finally put the past behind them and look forward to the new future they would build together—for themselves and for Asgard.

Until Thanos had come, guided by the call of the Space Stone, and crushed that future before it could’ve even begun.

Loki hesitated before finally walking up to the bed. Thor still remained silent. The fingers of his right hand, resting by his side, were curled against the sheets and Loki couldn’t help but wonder if they were itching to wrap themselves around his throat.

He stood by Thor’s bedside for a moment, waiting for a word, a gesture, any sign that would tell him whether he should stay or go already. But Thor didn’t give him such a sign, apparently leaving the decision up to him.

Loki ultimately decided to stay and sat in the chair standing by the bed. He bowed his head, his unburned hand picking at the other. He felt like he should say something, apologize, explain, but his mouth was dry and all words abandoned him. Maybe it was for the better. If Thor wanted silence, Loki wasn’t going to break it.

 _But you wanted to see me,_ Loki thought. _I came. I am here. What for? So that you can ignore me? Is_ this _supposed to be my punishment?_

“How many?” Thor finally spoke, his voice hoarse and slightly shaky.

Comforting lies came to Loki’s mind first. He couldn’t tell Thor that everyone had survived, since Thor had definitely seen some of the victims himself, but he could at least say that while some perished, others were safe. But he didn’t know that. He had no idea if anyone except them had made it. For all he knew, they could be all that was left of Asgard. Whatever he told Thor, they would probably learn the truth soon anyway.

“How many, Loki?” Thor repeated, more like a demand this time.

Loki braced himself. No lies, not this time. He wasn’t going to stitch Thor’s heart together with such fragile threads.

“I don’t know,” he said quietly.

“You don’t know.” Thor’s voice was something between a rasp and a growl. “You _don’t know.”_ He paused, breathing through his teeth. “Did you—did you see _anyone_ but us leave the ship? Anyone at all?”

“I did not,” Loki admitted.

Thor hissed. It might’ve been from the pain, but Loki suspected there was more to it.

“And the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I used it to bring us here. Stark has it now. It is safe, at least for the time being.”

Thor heaved a sigh that Loki could only interpret as a wordless version of ‘well, at least you have not completely ruined _everything._ ’

“I am sorry, brother,” Loki uttered. It wasn’t enough, not even close, but he needed to start with that before he continued. He still refused to look up, afraid to find Thor looking back at him with contempt in his eye. “I thought—”

Thor made a strangled sound, like he choked on a hollow laugh, “You abandoned our people, you wanted to give up the Tesseract, to doom the whole universe—and for what?”

Loki clenched his good fist; some of Thor’s anger was starting to rub off on him. _What do you think? I did it for_ you. _I did it because you are my brother. Because I care about you. Because I_ need _you._

He was about to say it out loud, but the words got stuck in this throat as an awful realization hit him and he felt shame gnaw at his heart.

 _Because_ I _need_ you.

Even though he claimed to care about his brother, to have risked everything for him—was it really about Thor? Or had he rather done it for his own sake? Just to keep the last of the light that was left in his life, to save the one person who still believed in him? The one person for whom he was _more_ than just the God of Mischief?

Loki buried his face in his hands, trying to stop himself from shaking.

 _Truly a marvelous trickster you are,_ a voice sneered in his head, _to trick even yourself into thinking that you could do something_ unselfish. _You need Thor more than Thor will ever need you—and now you need him more than ever._

 _It’s all about_ you.

Was that what Thor wanted him to admit?

Loki breathed deeply, struggling to come up with a reply that wouldn’t just be another useless apology, but Thor spoke first.

“Just—what makes you think I’m worth it?”

Loki’s head snapped up. Thor still wasn’t looking at him; his hand was pressed against his remaining eye and his teeth were clenched as he tried to stifle the sobs wracking his body.

 _No,_ Loki thought as his blood ran icy cold. _Not this. Not you. Not_ you.

Maybe it was just another manifestation of his selfish nature, trying to claim even all the grief and guilt for his own. But Thor had no right to that guilt. Thor was the least person to blame. Thor deserved _none_ of that pain.

“Thor—” Loki got to his feet and reached out with his cuffed hands, but stopped short of touching Thor. So many things had gone wrong already and he was already able to see how any attempt at comfort could end up bringing Thor more suffering.

But he couldn’t leave Thor like that. Thor shouldn’t be so hopeless, so _broken._

“Brother—” Loki tentatively closed his fingers around Thor’s right hand “—none of that was your fault. There was nothing you could do—”

“Exactly,” Thor snapped and Loki could feel his grasp on the sheets tighten. “ _Nothing_ I could do.”

Loki closed his mouth; his silver tongue kept failing him today over and over again, and yet today, of all times, he needed to speak the most.

“I couldn’t beat Hela,” Thor continued with difficulty, as if his own voice scraped his throat. “To save Asgard, I had to destroy our home. I _ran._ And then a new danger appeared and I—I couldn’t leave everything behind again. But once again I was—I was too _weak._ ” He sighed and took the his hand away from his face, revealing a reddened, teary eye. He was still avoiding Loki’s gaze, but not out of anger or hatred, as Loki had previously thought—and at this point, Loki would’ve preferred anger and hatred to what he was seeing in Thor’s eye now.

It was shame. Thor, the man who had wanted to throw his own life away for his people, who had tried to fight against all odds only to give others any little bit of advantage he could’ve wrestled from the hands of the Mad Titan, was _ashamed._

Loki felt his hands tremble again. That shouldn’t be Thor’s shame. It should be _his._

“I couldn’t protect them again,” Thor whispered, so quietly, as if those were the last words of a dying man. “What kind of king does that make me?”

“An admirable one,” Loki said, his voice almost matching Thor’s. He forced himself not to look away. “Slightly reckless, maybe. But no one would ever say you failed anyone today. You didn’t, Thor. You _didn’t._ ” He swallowed before adding, “ _I_ did.”

 _Be mad at me,_ he thought. _Despise me. Yell at me. Just don’t be like this._

Thor gave a small gasp and looked at him, but Loki immediately lowered his gaze. He could feel his cheeks burn and eyes sting.

“You did everything in your power to give us a chance,” he carried on, “and I did everything in my power to make it go to waste. If not for me, there would not have been anyone to fight in the first place. I brought the Tesseract with me, and it led Thanos to us. So, let me say it once again… none of that was your fault.” He closed his eyes, trying to trap the tears. “We both had a duty to our people. But when it was time to fulfill it, only one of us chose to do it, and it was you. So stop blaming yourself.”

_You know whom to blame. Go on._

This one time he was ready for it. This one time he would accept it.

A moment of silence followed, and then Loki felt Thor’s hand shift. He expected it to slip away from his loose grasp, but a moment later Thor’s fingers clutched his hand.

“Loki, look at me,” Thor said softly, _too_ softly.

Loki obeyed and his fingers twitched as he saw that Thor’s gaze changed. But there was no sudden fire nor even a gleam of anger, only a faint flicker of something pleasantly warm.

“I am… not well. I’m upset. I’m angry. But I am not angry with  _you,_ ” Thor assured him. “And I am not going to blame you for this. What happened—that’s on Thanos, not on you. I—I know you wanted none of that.”

Loki let out a breath and almost swayed. Relief washed all over him, and he _hated_ it; he wanted to scrub it all away and let it burn, let _himself_ burn, because he shouldn’t feel relieved, not _him,_ not while Thor was still in so much pain—the pain Loki had inflicted on him, no less, even if unwittingly.

“And if I sounded like I did try blame you,” Thor continued, “then I’m sor—”

“No,” Loki choked out; his throat felt tight, as if the collar on his neck just shrunk in size. “ _No._ Don’t say that. Don’t apologize. You—you don’t have to.”

Thor sighed, closing his eye for a moment, and when he opened it again, there was a weak smile on his lips.

“Then at least allow me to thank you,” he said.

“ _Thank—_ “ Loki let out a nervous chuckle. “What for? I do not recall doing anything even remotely praiseworthy in the last couple of hours.”

“Brother,” Thor interrupted him, tightening his grip on Loki’s fingers, “you saved my life. And for that… I cannot thank you enough.”

 _But you did not even want me to save you,_ Loki thought. _You believed—you still believe—that I have made the wrong call._ But Loki kept that to himself. He wouldn’t spit into Thor’s face like that.

However, Thor apparently didn’t need to hear it to respond to this.

“I know what I told you to do,” Thor said. “And I know you disobeyed me—but I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it had to be for you to make that choice.”

_Oh, it was. But not for the reasons you think._

“I do not know what I expected when I told you to go.” Thor looked away, his eye once more turning misty. “I hoped you would listen to me… and at the same time, I wanted you to try to stop me. I was… _torn._ I wanted—I _had_ to defend Asgard, but I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want you to leave. And then you came for me, and I was so—so afraid… but despite everything, a part of me was… _elated_ to see you, to see that you didn’t abandon me.” He looked back at Loki, again smiling wryly. “Selfish of me, wasn’t it?”

It felt like a punch in the stomach—but oddly enough, it made Loki want to _laugh._ And he did, bowing his head and trying to stifle the sound as his shoulders shook and tears trailed down his cheeks. He didn’t even bother to wipe them.

“Then I guess we are both selfish fools,” he muttered in the end, turning to Thor again. He was still smiling. And Loki couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’ve missed hearing you laugh,” Thor said. “I’m glad you’re here, Loki. I’m so glad you’re with me.”

Loki didn’t know if he wanted to hug Thor or punch him in the face for saying such nonsense.

_I put us in danger. I led Thanos to us. I betrayed you over and over again, I hurt you more than anyone else, and you still—_

_Accept it,_ another, gentler voice whispered in his head. _Accept it and move on. You will not heal him by punishing yourself._

Perhaps not. And for now, the former was more important than the latter. Maybe he should take a different approach—one that wasn’t so focused on _himself._

“This isn’t over yet,” Loki said. “You will recover and then you will find them.” He wasn’t sure if he really believed that, not after what he’d seen and with what he knew. But for Thor’s sake, he needed to.

Thor’s smile wavered. “Do you think that anyone—”

Loki paused. “I told you… I don’t know. But that means we can either give in to despair… or have hope. And besides, I do not think knowing nothing would stop you from looking anyway.”

“Hm.” Thor grinned momentarily. “No, I suppose it would not. But what about you?”

Loki stiffened. He hadn’t thought much of _after_ since coming here, having given in to an overwhelming desire to sleep shortly after being taken into custody. He only came up with one idea that did not even remotely resemble a proper plan.

“Well…” He sighed. “I need to recover first as well. The Tesseract… Using it has taken its toll on me.”

“You said it could kill you.” Thor sounded worried and Loki immediately regretted mentioning the subject.

“It was a possibility,” Loki said, trying to maintain a neutral tone. “It probably would have if I tried that with the ship. That would require far more energy than just for us two.”

“So why did you—”

“That was the only thing I could think of at the moment. Fortunately, it worked.”

“And… how are you feeling?”

 _Fine,_ he wanted to say. But even if he was to forsake his resolution not to lie tonight, he most likely didn’t look fine anyway.

“…Burned out. Drowsy. Slightly nauseous. It… damaged my magic. Hopefully not permanently.” He jerked his head, indicating the collar. “It’s hard to tell how bad it is with this on. I am not sure if it’s even really working or if I am just that weakened. I will probably know soon.”

“I’ll tell Stark to remove it,” Thor said with an edge to his voice. “This and the cuffs. You’re on our side now, I will vouch for you.” Suddenly, his eye widened and he beamed at Loki. “You are an Avenger now.”

Loki didn’t manage to suppress his quite undignified snort at that. An _Avenger._ Once Loki would’ve considered it an insult. Now it sounded more like a compliment he didn’t exactly deserve. But, Loki supposed, it was true enough now, even if the only thing he had in common with the rest of Thor’s team of heroes was a common enemy.

Not that the rest of them would accept him, for sure. But Loki didn’t intend to wait for them to tell him to keep his distance.

“Oh, I’m sure Stark will be thrilled to hear that,” Loki quipped. “I may even consider staying long enough to witness it.”

“You’re—” Thor’s face fell. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that… I am planning to leave as soon as I’m able.” Loki averted his eyes from Thor. “I’ll see if I can get the Tesseract back—not to give it back to Thanos, no,” he added quickly, anticipating Thor to interject. “That would earn me nothing now anyway. I dared to defy him. I couldn’t possibly redeem myself in his eyes after that, even if I wanted to. No, I was thinking more along the lines of chucking the Tesseract into a sun. Probably wouldn’t destroy it, but certainly would make retrieving it more bothersome. Or, failing that, stashing it somewhere safe enough for Thanos not to find it right away.”

“And… afterwards?” Thor asked somewhat hesitantly.

Loki gave a small shrug. “Afterwards… I am not sure. Try to hide for as long as I can, most likely.”

“But—”

“Oh, come on now, Thor. We both know I am not the safest company for you.” He turned back to Thor, giving him a smile he knew was crooked—and even that smile vanished when Loki saw that Thor’s face was now almost white where it wasn’t bruised, such dread written all over his features that Loki couldn’t quite hold back a shiver.

“Loki, I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you,” Thor said.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have needed rescuing at all. You were right, our paths diverged—and they should stay that way, for the good of both of us. _All_ of us.”

It hurt to say it, to admit it, every word a sharp shard of metal that needed to be coughed out. But Thor needed to know, and he needed to know _why._

_I do not hate you. This is not why I’m leaving._

Loki’s mind went back to Thanos’ words, the shameful remainder of his old grudges. He wondered if Thor had even heard them, and if he had, if he believed them. But even if he didn’t, it made them no less true.

He could explain himself. He could give Thor an excuse and not even be lying about it, say how the Void had left him weak and vulnerable, how easy it had been to believe how he’d been the only one wronged and let his anger fester, to loathe Thor with every fiber of his wretched being, to vow revenge, especially when _they_ had—

Loki shook the grim memories away. Nothing good could ever come from dwelling on that. And if Thor wasn’t bringing that up, neither would he. Hopefully he’d already made it clear that whatever hatred he’d once had for Thor was gone.

And _that_ was why he needed to leave.

Loki tried to let go of Thor’s hand, but Thor didn’t allow him, clutching Loki’s fingers with his.

“Stay,” Thor said— _pleaded,_ his eye glistening and voice strained, as if he was about to burst into tears again.

Loki didn’t exactly protest, but his hand remained slack in Thor’s grip. “I—I will, for a while,” he did his best to sound reassuring, but it wasn’t easy when he was beginning to choke up as well. “Hopefully they won’t lock me away and I will be able to visit you, but once I am well enough—”

“ _Stay,_ ” Thor repeated. “Please, Loki, don’t leave me. Don’t go.”

“Thor, have you listened to me at all? Have you not seen what happened aboard the _Statesman?_ Nothing good can possibly await you when I’m around—”

“But I’ll still have _you,_ ” Thor cut in, “and this is what matters to me the most.”

Loki gasped, his body going rigid. A number of responses pushed their way onto his tongue—most of them decrying Thor’s sentimentality—but he couldn’t possibly bring himself to say anything. Not that his mouth seemed to be working at the moment anyway, hanging open and only letting the sound of his breathing pass through.

“I—I have nothing else left,” Thor continued, his voice laced with desperation. “Do not make me lose _you_ as well. Please, brother— _do not leave._ ”

It was tempting to laugh at the irony—that Thor was now _begging_ him to stay, having ordered Loki to abandon him not so long ago. But Loki couldn’t laugh now. Not to that face. Not to that voice. Not while Thor was holding on to him as if his life depended on it, his hand quivering against Loki’s.

Loki could tell him that he wouldn’t leave him alone. That Thor still had friends and, hopefully, a people he needed to find. But he already knew what Thor would say to that.

He could just go. Thor wasn’t even in any shape to stop him. He probably wouldn’t be for quite a while. Loki could simply say his goodbye and leave, and everyone would be better off with him gone, especially Thor.

Except that it was painfully clear it wouldn’t be so.

It was reckless, it was irresponsible, it could be disastrous in the long run—Loki would be surprised if it wasn’t. But that was what Thor wanted. That was what they both wanted.

Just when was the last time they had agreed on something?

“As you wish, Thor,” Loki said, only barely keeping his voice from breaking, looking Thor straight in the eye. “I will stay. I am here as long as you need me.”

He wasn’t even done talking when Thor’s face changed in an instant, relief washing some of the paleness away, lighting a hopeful spark in his eye.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling through tears. “Thank you, Loki. Thank you. _Thank you._ ”

Loki gave him a small nod and glanced at the door behind him. The visit was supposed to be brief, but since no one was here to take him away yet…

“Would you mind?” Loki indicated the chair. This time Thor allowed him to let go and Loki moved the chair closer to the bed before taking his seat, sprawling in it ungracefully.

“I think we both need some more sleep,” he said, rolling his shoulders.

“I think you may be right,” Thor replied, but he gave Loki a slightly uncertain look.

“Don’t worry,” Loki reassured him. “I’ll still be here when you wake up. Maybe not exactly in this spot, since they will ask me to leave you in peace eventually… but close enough to come whenever you want me to.”

The corners of Thor’s still smiling mouth twitched; he regarded Loki for a moment and finally closed his eye. Seconds later, Loki did the same, trying to make himself as comfortable in the chair as he could.

All of the sudden, he felt hopeful.

 _We’ll get through this. We will find our people. We will find a new home. We will find a way to stop Thanos. And we’ll do it_ together.

They had already found each other. That was not a bad start.

 

* * *

 

“Ow!” Tony massaged his arm. “What was that for?”

“I saw what you did there. Or almost did.” Rhodey returned to his seat, rubbing his knuckles. “No overhearing, remember?”

“I wasn’t turning the mic on. I was doing _this._ ” He showed the StarkPad to Rhodey, indicating the blank screen. It hadn’t taken him long to turn it off. The more he observed Thor and Loki, the more he felt like an intruder. Finally, the moment he noticed Thor _cry,_ he decided that was enough. His curiosity and caution ended where basic human decency began.

“Ah. Alright.” Rhodey gave him a slight bow. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t ‘sorry’ me, that hurt quite a lot.”

“I barely touched you.”

“You soldiers apparently have a different concept of what ‘barely touched’ means.”

“Or you’re just a big old softie. Anyway,” Rhodey continued before Tony could retort, “got any ideas on how to proceed, now that we more or less know what’s going on?” He reached for the pizza box he’d brought from the living room.

“Not too many.” Tony put the StarkPad on the small table and glanced at the pizza, but decided to pass. Eating cold leftovers while standing in the infirmary’s tiny waiting room just seemed like a little too pathetic of an ending to an already awful evening. Maybe he would heat something up later. “I’m still not that keen on contacting Ross and his pals… and I still think we should talk to Thor once he feels better, just to be sure.”

“How long are we going to hide that from them?”

“As long as we can. Until it all blows over and everyone is safe would be ideal but well, we probably can’t have that. And I guess we’ll need them at some point. I don’t know, I’ll assess everything all over again and then we’ll see.”

“And what about Loki?”

“Ugh, that.” Tony grimaced, leaning against the wall. “As much as I hate the guy, he pretty much has to stay here for the time being. Can’t turn him over without the authorities getting a whiff of what’s happening too soon. Not to mention they’d probably wouldn’t think twice before executing him… and I’m sure Thor wouldn’t like it. So yeah, we’re sheltering a war criminal now. Go us.”

Rhodey chuckled. Tony frowned at him.

“Okay, this time I wasn’t really trying to be funny,” he said.

“No it’s just… I wondered how long it would take you to admit that the Accords are starting to chafe.”

“You know I’d sign them again if I had to.”

“And yet we’re doing _this._ ”

Tony paused, then chuckled as well. “And yet we’re doing this. _Yep._ And speaking of nasty criminals and all things illegal… I’ll be right back.” He picked one pizza slice from the box and straightened up. He could make a quick stop at the microwave on his way to his office.

“Where are you going?” Rhodey asked.

Tony smiled. “I’m gonna call a friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap!
> 
> It's actually the first multichapter fic that I've ever managed to finish... and it's only 4 chapters long... yeah, that probably says a lot about me, and it's not exactly a good lot.
> 
> Anyway, Dear Readers, thank you so much for sticking around! :) And I hope you had a good time reading as well - or at the very least an above-average time. ^^"
> 
> In case someone asks: I'm not really planning to continue this, or else it'd probably just turn into _Infinity War But With More Loki: The Fic_... which I guess wouldn't be too interesting, given that a lot of things would actually stay mostly the same with some rather minor changes. I _have_ got some loose thoughts that may or may not evolve into something, though. Time will tell, I guess. But I'm making no promises.


End file.
